Ms. Ramos (Exponent letter, March 22), I tried contacting you directly, but you do not appear in the Purdue phone book or the Faculty/Staff database. I think I can make this sufficiently valuable to warrant another Exponent entry.

I was upset that one person chose to misquote me in order to support an inane position, and that another two chose to misrepresent what I had written in order to, mostly, reiterate what I had already said and in the same stroke impugn my integrity. And yes, the responses I wrote were in a voice designed to get that point across. They, as well as others, need to understand that what they did will not be tolerated. There is, however, a larger issue. Did you note that in my responses I noted some problems/flaws in their letters, and in the case of the pair who wanted to refute my statements I actually invited them to try again? If they do try again, do you think that their response will be more accurate and informative, or that it will be the same jumbled mass of ideas tossed onto a sheet of paper as before? I am willing to bet their response will have improved and they will have learned something important that they will be able to use in any profession they choose. If they take my rebuke and invitation seriously they will gain a self-taught lesson in critical reading and logical response, and that is something that can only be self-taught. I may have wasted my time, but my hope is that they gain an important learning experience. So maybe you should be a little less quick to judge, unless you believe that the opinions column is not a proper venue for learning.